NRCM Blog

Maine People and the Environment: Report from the Roundtable

More than 500 citizens from across the state poured into the Augusta Civic Center on January 20th to participate in the first public meeting with Governor LePage about the importance of environmental protection to Maine's economic and public health. A panel of 28 businesses, sportsmen, health professionals, religious leaders, and youth discussed how the laws that have cleaned up once heavily polluted rivers, have kept Maine's woods and fish stocks intact, have kept our landscapes protected and relatively pristine, and have cleaned up our air - and saved us money -- by conserving energy, are necessary and welcome to those who have chosen to set up businesses in Maine, have worked the land for generations, or visit here to enjoy our quality of life.

NRCM is proud to have sponsored this event with numerous partner organizations and to have seen so many members from the NRCM family across the state in attendance. We have shown once again that the people of Maine are deeply committed to environmental protections and are willing to stand up and fight for them. Please see the extensive news coverage here: http://www.nrcm.org/news.asp

We will soon be posting the remarks of the panelists, as well as video of the event, but today's snow slowed us down a bit. Check our website next week (www.nrcm.org) for more from the Roundtable.

Here are some of the remarks from the panelists, who we thank so much for participating in this event:

William Bennett, Pres. & CEO, of Oakhurst: "After all the cows that produce Oakhurst milk literally eat drink and breathe the Maine environment so it's in everyone's best interest to keep Maine's environment clean, safe and healthy."

Unity College student Deirdre Birbeck also had a chance to speak directly to the Governor. "It seems to me that my generation's future jobs will depend on careful stewarding of our natural resources."
 
“If our coastal waters are not clean, it is impossible for all commercial fishermen, not just clammers, to market the Maine brand,” said Chad Coffin, president of the Maine Clammers Association.

“Regulations aren’t perfect, and some may need fixing,” said Harry Dwyer, a licensed forester and logger who owns Ghost Dance Forestry in Fayette. “But regulations are not the enemy. They are an important tool” to protect resources for future generations.

Horace “Hoddy” Hildreth, a former Republican state senator who is chairman of Diversified Communications, a company with 200 employees, said many of the laws protecting Maine’s air, land and water were enacted by Republican-controlled legislatures responding to the industrial abuses of the 1960s and 1970s.

“Their implementation has from time to time caused frustration and even outrage,” Hildreth said. “But I submit to you that working on the regulations to make sure they are responsive to the plain intent of the statutes is a better way to go than gutting or repealing the laws.”

Corky Ellis, founder and Chairman of Kepware, a software company in Portland, says they could have moved to North Carolina or Texas with lower taxes and minimal environmental regulations, but they wanted to live in Maine. "Please bear in mind that many businesses like ours are here in Maine precisely because of the protected beauty and the conservation efforts of the past."

And MPBN's news story quoted Ernie Hilton, former chair of the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (read and listen to the full MPBN news story here):

Ernie Hilton is a lifelong Republican, an attorney and civil engineer from Madison who previously chaired Maine's Board of Environmental Protection, and whose wife chairs the Land Use Regulation Commission, or LURC.

Hilton says he's worried Maine's quality of place may be threatened as the new administration and Legislature look to relax environmental permitting and reuglations and do away with agencies such as LURC, which governs zoning and planning in Maine's North Woods.

"I'm concerned when I see, as I did yesterday, a list of some of the statutes which are pending before the Legislature dealing with shoreland zoning and with LURC, and it strikes me as being a race to the bottom approach to our environment," Hilton said.

Hilton says it's not environmental rules or regulations that are the biggest impediments to job creation in Maine but rather the high cost of health care. He points out that over the last eight years more than 10,000 permits by rule were issued for small projects, and $5 billion dollars worth of major projects permitted by the Department of Environmental Protection alone.

 
 

LURC Approves Kibby Mountain Wind Project

We just wanted to let everyone know that the Kibby Mountain Wind Project received final approval from the Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) last Wednesday, July 9th! Here is more information from a July 10 Bangor Daily News news story by Kevin Miller:

State regulators gave final approval Wednesday to a $270 million wind farm and transmission line proposed for the mountains of rural Franklin County.
TransCanada Maine Wind Development Inc. plans to erect 44 wind turbines on Kibby Mountain and Kibby Range, located near the Canadian border just east of Coburn Gore. The land is a working forest owned by Plum Creek Timber Co.

If constructed today, the Kibby project would be the largest wind farm in New England and would generate enough electricity to power 50,000 homes...

Wind Power in the Cross-winds: Black Nubble defeated; Kibby approved on Monday, January 14

So, NRCM is back at the St. Paul Center on a snowy Monday morning, but we’re not here for the Plum Creek hearings today. The Clean Energy Team is here for LURC’s deliberations on the Black Nubble and Kibby wind proposals. While the rest of the office and much of the state has been given a snow day, we, along with about 100 others braved the trip to Augusta.

First on the schedule for the day is the Black Nubble Wind Farm proposal. The commissioners have spent the first 1.5 hours raising their concerns primarily about the scenic impacts of the project and whether or not it fits harmoniously into the larger landscape. They have also raised concerns about whether the company has sufficient financial backing for the project – a surprising focus given that one of the Maine Mountain Power partners is Edison Mission Energy, connected to multi-billion dollar Southern California Edison.

While much of the time was used to discuss concerns, a few commissioners noted that it was important not to dwell on the negative and forget the positive aspects of the proposal. The audience – lawyers, project developers, interveners, and members of the interested public – have no opportunity to comment, which is frustrating. You can see the audience nodding in agreement as their arguments have been raised and whispering to one another, and then in the next breath the opposing side will be smiling.  It’s a bit tough to figure out where the Commission stands at this point, although it seems like there are two in support of the project, two against, and the other two are undecided.  [The 7th Commissioner, Steve Wight, has recused himself from the deliberations and vote.]

Update on energy issues for 2008

Happy New Year from NRCM’s Clean Energy Team!

This winter has been off to a wonderful start for those of us who enjoy snowy outdoor activities, including my dog! I love the four seasons we have in Maine, and this most certainly includes winter! Hopefully everyone is taking advantage of the bountiful snow, since the most recent years have been disappointing as the climate has been changing. Of course, the colder and snowy winter does come with higher energy costs to keep our homes warm and cozy; and this is a real hardship for many Mainers, especially with the rising prices of oil and gas. So what are we doing about this here in Maine?

This legislative session, which began yesterday, has several bills which address global warming and rising energy costs. There is a bill we are working on at NRCM which will require new homes to meet minimum energy efficiency standards and provide incentives for high-efficiency homes, and provide home buyers with more information about energy performance. This way you’ll have an idea how much it will cost to heat and cool your home; this is information I’m sure many people would have liked to have before buying or renting their current place. There is also a bill to require carbon capture and sequestration of any new proposed coal facility in the state, since this would be a huge source of carbon emissions which could undermine the steps we have already taken to lower Maine’s global warming emissions. There is legislation to make it easier to do small renewable projects and provide funding for rail transportation, much needed since Maine’s largest source of global warming pollution is from transportation. The Governor’s Task Force on Wind will also be making recommendations later this month, and the Land Use Regulation Commission will make their decisions about both the Black Nubble Wind Power and Kibby Wind Power proposals on January 14^th.  As you can see this winter is off to a busy start…

We hope that in 2008 we will resolve as a state to move toward a cleaner, healthier future, but we need your help! Make sure to sign up through our action network at http://supporters.nrcm.org/site/Survey?SURVEY_ID=1180&ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS to stay updated about energy and global warming issues. We’ll let you know when we need you to contact your legislator, government officials, or rally support in your community!  We hope you will join us.

Sara Lovitz

Clean Energy Outreach Coordinator

Second Mars Hill Wind Tour Participants Enjoy Beautiful Fall Foliage, a Strong Breeze, and Learning First-hand about Maine’s Only Up-and-Running Wind Farm

Many Mainers joined the Natural Resources Council of Maine on Saturday, September 29th, for our second excursion to Maine —and New England’s— only large wind farm, located at Mars Hill.  The group toured the ridge line, met with wind farm developer UPC Wind, enjoyed the incredible fall colors, and went round the mountain to gain perspectives from town officials and residents about the benefits of wind power to our environment and on local communities and to hear the project on a windy day from multiple locations. The weather ended up cooperating and we had at the very least partly sunny skies and steady winds, hot summer sun and beautiful fall colors greeting us in Mars Hill.

Maine Wind Power Projects pick up steam

Maine Wind Power Projects Pick Up Steam

NRCM has been actively supporting and promoting three large-scale wind power projects making the news lately.  The Land Use Regulation Commission (LURC) will hold public hearings for these projects in the next four months, beginning in August. These projects have the potential to position Maine as a leader in wind energy in New England: the 42 MW Mars Hill Wind Project already is the largest wind farm operating in the region. The approval and construction of these wind farms will help address the threat of global warming and achieve NRCM’s goal of having 5% of Maine’s electricity provided by wind energy by 2010!